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Welfin
|name = Welfin |kana = ウェルフィン |rōmaji = Werufin |also known as = Zaiqahal |manga debut = Chapter 188 |anime debut = Episode 85 (2011) |japanese voice = Daiki Nakamura |english voice = |gender = Male |hair = Brown (as Zaiqahal) Blonde (as Welfin) (Former) Bald (Current) |eyes = Black |status = Alive |previous occupation = Tactician for Gyro's Army Chimera Ant Squadron Leader |type = Conjuration |abilities = Missileman |image gallery = yes}}Welfin (ウェルフィン, Werufin) is a wolf-like Chimera Ant Squadron Leader.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 19, Chapter 188 His human name was Zaiqahal (ザイカハル, Zaiqaharu).Hunter × Hunter - Volume 29, Chapter 309 After the death of the Chimera Ant King, Welfin travels to Meteor City in search for Gyro.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 28, Chapter 315 Appearance Welfin appears to be an humanoid wolf with long blonde hair and is seen only wearing a blue shirt and a thong. After a near-death experience with Meruem, his face is shown to have aged dramatically. Personality Welfin is very close to the bottom of the Chimera Ants hierarchy. He is secretly aiming to reach the top of the kingdom by trying to gain favor with the King, something that comes natural to him from his poverty-stricken life as a human. He strives to be the "Shadow King". He is extremely paranoid, shown by his Hatsu, and is constantly suspecting everyone around him. Welfin is also shown to be quite a coward, even trying to improvise his own death in front of Ikalgo. He however does have a lighter side to him: he longs to see his lost friend Gyro. Since revealing his past to Ikalgo, he became convinced that his true enemies are the Chimera Ants and the King. Background Before becoming an Ant, Zaiqahal was raised by an abusive father. The man attempted to strangle him while a woman watched from behind without intervening, but Zaiqahal's stepbrother saved him. At some point in his life, Zaiqahal met Gyro. Feeling empty inside, and thus having nothing to hide, the two quickly became friends and would often argue about who between them had the worst luck. Zaiqahal was seemingly involved in the dark side of NGL.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 28, Chapter 296 He was also comrades with a human Ikalgo. When the Chimera Ants invaded, he attempted to fight them off inside the drug factory, but was ultimately taken to and eaten by the Chimera Ant Queen, thus allowing him to be reborn as Squadron Leader Welfin. Plot Chimera Ant arc Welfin is first seen when the Chimera Ant Queen summons the Squadron Leaders in the nest, after which he chooses a name for himself, and later appears at Neferpitou's "conferment ceremony", where Rammot hits all the Squadron Leaders and Officers to allow them access to their aura.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 19, Chapter 198 He is one of the high-ranking Chimera Ants who survive Netero, Morel and Knov's purge.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 20, Chapter 206 After the Queen is gravely injured while giving birth to the King, Welfin decides to leave the nestHunter × Hunter - Volume 21, Chapter 214 and is followed by at least three of his peons: Taragetter, Maenole and Inzagi.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 25, Chapter 261 A few days before the Selection, Welfin makes for the Royal Palace of East Gorteau to swear loyalty to the King in return for power. Shaiapouf bestows a Hatsu ability upon him and teaches him how to use it.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 23, Chapter 246 When Morel and Knov surround Peijin,Hunter × Hunter - Volume 23, Chapter 243 Neferpitou sends Leol to deal with them.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 23, Chapter 246 Cheetu teleports away with Morel. Reckoning he cannot deal with Knov by himself, Leol asks the Royal Guard to send reinforcements. Welfin and Bloster are chosen.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 23, Chapter 245 As they leave the building, the two cross the garden where 5,000 Chimera hybrids waiting to hatch are kept as food. Upon learning their number and that the King has been skipping meals to play Gungi, Bloster considers eating a few cocoons, but Welfin recommends he does not cross the King and the Royal Guards. He mocks Leol for his delusions of grandeur and remarks he hates being called by his former name. They reach Leol, but Flutter, on whom they relied to keep track of the enemy, goes missing. Welfin suggests changing tactics, but, before he and Bloster turn back, Leol resolves to look for him and the target with his ability. Activating Rental Pod, he explains it is an ability with a search function and declares Flutter is still alive. Welfin and Bloster are tasked with keeping the soldiers in white away from him while he fights Knov. Welfin asks him if he can handle it by himself, to which Leol responds he does not want them to run any risks. Welfin then points the direction to Bloster, but before the three can split up, Leol locates Morel and Knov.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 24, Chapter 248 The two Hunters separate, and Leol makes Morel their primary target instead of Knov.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 24, Chapter 249 Welfin offers Leol his assistance, but the leonine Ant refuses in order to hog the credit before the Royal Guards. Before returning to the palace, Welfin comes across some soldiers in white and discovers they are Nen constructs, which he relays to Neferpitou.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 24, Chapter 254 Six days later, Welfin overhears a worried Bizeff on his cell phone as he gives dispositions to some soldiers to find one of his women who ran away. He admonishes him to stop using it inside the palace, since the radio frequencies give him a headache. Bizeff replies he has an urgent matter on his hands, but Welfin reveals he is aware of the escapee and offers to find her for him, claiming he only needs a piece of her clothing. As Bizeff rushes to get it, Welfin gloats that he is making steps towards his objective of ruling from the shadows by controlling the Secretary of State. A peon sends him a crude telepathic message, which causes his ears to ring. Inzagi and Maenole show him a pair of shows covered in mud and blood, which he recognizes as Taragetter's. From the mud he determines the intruder must have infiltrated the palace the previous week, which would make the time frame of Taragetter's disappearance. He wonders if the intruder killed or abducted him, but cannot figure out his motive. He briefly ponders requesting Shaiapouf's advice before resolving to find and interrogate the intruder himself. He follows Knov's scent deeper inside the palace, reaching the central staircase to the second floor and then turning towards the inner courtyard, where the rain washed away the trail. Unable to reconstruct his actions, Welfin speculates he used an ability. Menthuthuyoupi comes down the staircase, telling him the King will kill anyone who goes upstairs and to spread the voice. Upon seeing his wings, he starts to believe the shoes were a decoy and that the intruder flew upstairs. He calls out the Royal Guard's name, but then realizes Neferpitou would have detected the intruder with their En, so he does not finish his question. However, this leads him to ask Menthuthuyoupi if Neferpitou ever turned off their En on a rainy day the previous week, thinking that otherwise sneaking in would have been impossible. The Royal Guard responds that the King tore off his own arm and that Neferpitou healed him, while Shaiapouf took over En duty. Contrary to Menthuthuyoupi's statement, Welfin believes Shaiapouf's En to extend no farther than the stairs, and that seeing it is what led the intruder to leave without climbing the stairs. However, he cannot puzzle out what was his aim, or if he is still in the palace. Welfin contemplates informing the Royal Guards, immediately discarding Menthuthuyoupi since he would most likely forget to mention him, and reporting that an intruder came but was scared off would also result in little credit. He also estimates that the intruder getting caught would expose a lie about his motives, whereas a false alarm would destroy his credibility. The signal from Bizeff's phone interrupts his musings. Welfin decides to trick him. He tells the Secretary of State that the woman and the intruder are in cahoots, that they teleported away, and that they planted a bomb somewhere in the palace. To support his story, he shows Bizeff an alleged piece of wiring. He insists on not reporting the incident until after they have found the bomb, which he persuades Bizeff will not be set off until the whole population has gathered in front of the palace. He tells Bizeff to contact the bomb squad while he looks for the device. His real plan is to have the bomb squad hide a real explosive and then take credit for its discovery.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 25, Chapter 262 Welfin survives Zeno's Dragon Dive unscathed. A few seconds after midnight of the day of the Selection, he sees an intruder swiftly kill Inzagi and Maenole,Hunter × Hunter - Volume 25, Chapter 269 then "Flutter" run down that same corridor mere instants later. He concludes "Flutter" must have passed the intruder, and that he was spared because the two are on the same side. He hides while the Officer from Leol's squad talks to Cheetu and Bloster, wondering if Leol is involved too. He then notices "Flutter" call Leol by his despised former name, "Hagya".Hunter × Hunter - Volume 26, Chapter 271 He spies "Flutter" and Bloster as they take the elevator to the basement one after the other. The lingering smell of putrefaction left by "Flutter"'s rotting body makes him nauseous. He begins to fear that Bloster is on "Flutter"'s side and that he preceeded him downstairs in order to shoot him as soon as the doors of the elevator open. He agonizes over the decision, as blaming Flutter for the bomb would solidify his value to Bizeff. This train of thought leads him to realize that his plan is worthless if Bizeff has died, so he goes looking for him.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 26, Chapter 273 He cuts through the inner courtyard, where he pauses to find a trail. Suddenly, he detects a presence behind a corner, which vanishes a moment afterwards. His cautious nature prompts him to activate Missileman. He orders whoever is hiding behind the wall to come out lest he open fire. He counts down from three and then shoots, but his missiles do not find any target. The smell of an unscented deodorant convinces him he was not mistaken and that someone on their side other than Flutter has betrayed them. He begins to question his own safety and his choice of faction, then hears Menthuthuyoupi's frustrated scream and comes to doubt whether finding Bizeff should really be his priority.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 26, Chapter 276 A few minutes later, he spots Hina and Shidore carrying Bizeff to the underground shelter and tails them.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 27, Chapter 286 He sneaks into the monitor room, from which he sees Ikalgo fail to shoot an unconscious Bloster. As the octopus returns to the room, he opens two bulkheads to let Hina, Shidore and Bizeff through. Figuring that Ikalgo, who was incapable of killing Bloster, would not be a threat to him, he hides into the room.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 28, Chapter 296 The octopus bursts in tears in front of the screens. When he recollects himself, Welfin reveals his presence, Missileman already activated, and commands him not to move and to answer his questions. Much to his shock, Ikalgo turns around and shoots him in his right shoulder.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 28, Chapter 295 Screaming in pain and cursing Ikalgo, Welfin retaliates by launching his missiles, which successfully implant live centipedes in Ikalgo's head. He bursts into a sadistic laugh and warns Ikalgo that if he disobeys or tries to harm him, the centipedes will grow until they burst, killing him. Unfazed, Ikalgo loads another bullet and opens fire amidst Welfin's protest, shooting him in both legs to ensure he will not be a threat to his allies. As Ikalgo prepares to fire another round, Welfin surrenders, which, unbeknownst to him, causes the centipedes to twist in agony. He laments that he knew he would find himself in a similar predicament at some point, and marvels at how dangerous someone who does not care about his own safety can be. Ikalgo demands that he remove the centipedes; believing it impossible, Welfin pretends to faint, but fails to trick Ikalgo. When he is caught peeking, he implores the octopus not to shoot, admitting that there is no way to cancel the ability. He adds that he attacks to kill, so he is not interested in what happens afterwards. His remark about Nen abilities reflecting the user's personality leads Ikalgo to ask him if he has any memories of his life as a human. Welfin lies, but Ikalgo sees through it. Welfin thus confesses that as soon as he awoke, he was haunted by the memory of his father throttling him. After a while, it occurred to him that on that occasion he had been saved by his stepbrother, who in turn reminded him of Gyro. He narrates his past with the king of NGL, finally stating his wish is to see him again. His sincerity kills the centipedes, which vanish. Lying down on the table, Welfin urges Ikalgo to attend to other matters. The octopus asks him who he opened the bulkheads for, and he replies, adjoining that he thought Ikalgo would be a pushover since he could not kill Bloster. Questioned by the former Captain, Welfin states he knows of a woman who was captured and put into a cocoon. He tells Ikalgo where to find her and that she was named "Number 1". He chuckles, amazed that speaking the truth would be so easy. Under Shaiapouf's orders, he called Neferpitou to help trick her into thinking they had regained Komugi from the enemy.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 29, Chapter 304 Now walking with crutches, Welfin carries out Ikalgo's plan to free Bizeff's slaves and bring Bloster with them. He then runs into Youpi and asks him if he remembers his past life. After hearing his answer, he activates Missileman and tells Youpi to answer all his questions. The Royal guard then prepares for battle but succumbs to the poison of the Poor Man's Rose.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 29, Chapter 310 Welfin is then found by Meruem's En and questioned if he was the one who killed Youpi.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 29, Chapter 312 Out of fear from Meruem's hunger, Welfin's fur fell out and he rapidly aged. When he was about to be devoured, he told Meruem Komugi's name. He was spared for giving The King such useful information. As The King walked away, Welfin yelled that Gyro was the only true king and he's the only man he'll follow, stating that Meruem was the enemy. Meruem responded saying he'd like to meet this Gyro and may want to live as a human.Hunter × Hunter - Volume 30, Chapter 313 After the events of East Gorteau, Welfin is seen with Bizeff, Hina, Bloster, and Shidore driving to NGL to drop the latter two off. Now as confident as ever, even falsely stating he killed Meruem, Welfin and the others head to Meteor City to look for Gyro to restart the kingdom like NGL all over again. Abilities & Powers As a Chimera Ant, Welfin is stronger than any average human. During his time as a Squadron Leader, he had authority over his underlings, although it is unclear how much influence he retained after the death of the Queen. He is not a fighter, but his skills in strategy are remarkable. Enhanced Smell: He easily used his sense of smell to track Knov's movements throughout the palace. He was also able to catch a quick smell of Meleoron, before losing him due to the enemy's use of his Nen ability. Enhanced Hearing: Welfin can hear conversations transmitted on the frequency of a normal mobile phone. Advanced Endurance: Being shot in the legs multiple times by Ikalgo inflicted him pain and forced him to walk with crutches, but he managed to think clearly throughout the ordeal. High Intelligence: As a former tactician, he is able to produce plans and attack patterns and easily think his way out of a situation. However, he has a tendency to over think and scares himself out of completing his goal. Nen Welfin is a Conjurer. Although not strictly battle-oriented, his Hatsu ability allows him to win a fight through simple coercion. On the other hand, since his enemies usually surrender and obey his terms, he lacks experience with it, which leads him to be in the dark about some of its characteristics, such as the the lethality of sincerity to the centipedes. Welfin's Hatsu ability reflects multiple facets of his personality. Quotes * "I'll build my status... brick by brick...!!" * (To Ikalgo) "When I came to, my first thought was, 'I still remember. Damn it. I still '''remember."'' * (To Ikalgo) ''"We used to argue over who had the worse luck. With him I could laugh about the bad old days. We were both empty inside, so we didn't have anything to hide. Where is he now? I wish I could see him again." * (To Ikalgo) "That's all I want... To see him. I don't care about Ants... or people... or money." * (To Ikalgo) "It's so easy to tell the truth..." Trivia * In episode 136 of the anime, Welfin can be seen drinking from what appears to be a Heineken brand beer can. * Welfin is mistakenly considered a Manipulator in Hunter × Hunter: Battle All-Stars. * According to the "Hunter × Hunter Manual" section found in the Yu ☆ Yu ☆ Hakusho official character book (Shueisha Jump remix), Welfin's stats are: References Navigation Category:Male characters Category:Conjurers Category:Chimera Ants Category:Squadron Leaders Category:Magical beast Category:Reformed Antagonists